The Last of the Soviets

Two Russian artists in exile reveal the cruelty of Soviet life with a good dose of dark humour. The award-winning Spitfire return to Edinburgh with a project influenced by the books of Nobel Prize laureate Svetlana Alexievich. Chilling jokes, the absurdity of the situation, and efforts at trivialisation are the key features of a production built on the testimonies of witnesses of wars, the Chernobyl disaster and the collapse of the USSR. Live cinema employing puppet animation and starring food, inspired by works of Jan Švankmajer, provides fitting stylisation.